Commencement Speech 2016: The Cost of Inviting Celebrities to Speak at Graduation

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Commencement speech 2016 highlights some important names, notable Hollywood A-Listers including Jason Bourne's Matt Damon at the MIT, Steven Spielberg at Harvard University, and Ryan Seacrest at the University of Georgia. How much does it cost to listen to inspirational message from famous people?

According to the CBS News, the Associated Press made a report compiled from 20 public universities who invited famous speakers to send off graduates. The report spilled out the price to invite Matthew McConaughey to speak at University of Houston graduation. The school paid $166,000 for the actor. And although he donated his earnings, the impressive amount sparked a controversy if a college should pay for an hour advice.

Booking agency spokesperson, Michael Frick, explains the nature in paying high cost to invite celebrities to speak at graduation. It is nothing ridiculous given their talents, popularity and achievements in the industry. Frick also describes it as a supply and demand in capitalism world, San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The supply and demand might seem to be true according to Margaret McCorry from Kean University. She said that students deserve memorable commencement speech. However, from the 20 universities, 16 claimed that they did not spend a dime on the speakers. For instance, Ryan Seacrest spoke for his alma mater at University of Georgia for free. And so did Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg commencement speech 2016 at UC Berkeley.

As for Steven Spielberg and Matt Damon, both gave a speech after being paid an undisclosed amount of fees. The RT reported that universities in California spend more than $7 million to pay notable speakers at graduation. Even if some speakers are giving a speech for free, universities still have to cover travel and accommodation expenses.

University Herald has compiled the best problem-solving tips addressed by famous speakers during their commencement speech, which include advices from Steve Jobs, Oprah, and Ellen DeGeneres.